Nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy TV series, Girls.Actress Lena Dunham attends a book signing for her new book "Not That Kind of Girl: A young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned." at Barnes & Noble bookstore at The Grove on October 14, 2014 in Los Angeles, California (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)Lena Dunham arrives at the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards

Girls star Lena Dunham has apologised for quotes in a magazine in which she compared reading gossip publications to 'returning to abusive husbands'.

Taking to her Instagram account, she posted a picture of a hand-drawn 'sorry', explaining that she "wasn't making a joke" with her comments, which compared "reading certain websites that have repeatedly insulted me to returning to a physically abusive husband".

"When I heard my own quote I was like 'Jesus, Lena, no'".

She described herself as "over emphatic" in her attempt to describe the effect these websites have on her and told her fans "I regret that earlier comparison because it doesn't accurately describe the condition of being attacked online AND it appears to make light of domestic violence, which ain't my style".

She added that the internet is not all bad. "I've met a lot of my best friends there. It's allowed for so much magic. But it also makes room for so much hate and a new kind of violence. I'm not the first to say it. I shan't be the last".

Dunham recently revealed that she doesn't manage her own Twitter account due to online hate.

Speaking on the podcast 'Re/code Decode', she told host Kara Swisher "I don't look at Twitter anymore. I tweet, but I do it through someone else", adding "it really, truly wasn't a safe space for me".

Dunham has previously come under fire for comments made in interviews, including a column which was called 'Dog or Jewish boyfriend?'.